Another year on the clock: How old is your technology?

As a company boss, you’re continuing to gain experience, and all being well, your business is putting down deeper roots in the local community. Ideally, your company will keep growing as it matures. You should be updating your products and services regularly to keep up with industry rivals and doing all you can to meet consumer needs. This can help you attract and retain their custom, ensuring the business is sustainable for the long term. Age and business experience can certainly be assets for your company, but there can also be problems with the passage of time. Because as the company ages another year, so does your technology and infrastructure – unless you keep investing. And the longer businesses persist with older, legacy solutions, the less value they tend to add. IT is advancing rapidly

When did your company last upgrade its hardware and software? If the upgrade process happened in the last couple of years – meaning you’re already using Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Office 365 and the like – you’ve got little to worry about. But if you’ve been running your company for five or ten years, and failed to upgrade your technology since you started, the chances are you’re missing out on significant value with each day, week and month that passes. The rapid pace of innovation within the technology sector means new, advanced solutions are arriving on the market all the time. These are geared at reducing costs, boosting productivity and adding value to businesses. Keeping your IT up-to-date allows your business to benefit from the latest services and delivery models, and there’s little doubt this can add value to the bottom line. In the digital age, with so much business conducted online, it is simply not an option for companies to persist with sluggish old desktop PCs, dial-up internet connections, and decade-old out-of-the-box software and operating systems. Continuing with legacy technology solutions concedes too much of an advantage to your more tech-savvy rivals. The arrival of the cloud

If it’s been a number of years since your business upgraded its IT, then you may be surprised by how much has changed. A decade ago, companies still hosted all their software and IT services on-site, using in-house servers and their own dedicated infrastructure. But cloud computing has changed all that. The arrival of hosted services, delivered online by a third-party specialist provider, means it is no longer necessary for companies to commit vast amounts of capital expenditure to technology projects. Rather than buying software out-of-the-box, installing it manually and being forced to purchase regular upgrades; companies can rent the latest, up-to-date solutions online. Your business can scale its IT consumption up and down according to demand, paying only for what it uses. And because all services and applications are available online, employees can access software, applications, files, documents and data from almost any location, on virtually any connected device. This gives you the chance to run a more fluid, flexible business, with agile staff members who are able to do something productive at all times. The future of business IT

Businesses of all sizes are now embracing cloud services, recognising the high return on investment they can potentially offer, from a relatively low cost base. It is so much simpler for companies to source their technology this way – they need less money up front, and less in-house expertise. The IT industry as a whole has changed markedly in the last few years, as manufacturers and vendors shift their focus to the cloud. As a business, it makes sense to go with the flow – being resistant to change will only limit your options going forward. Why blow your entire budget buying servers and new software, when you can access everything you need in the cloud for a few pounds? In the digital age, it is becoming imperative for businesses to operate online – this is where many of your customers are most active. Every year, more and more sales are being made through ecommerce channels, and social media represents many companies’ number one marketing tool. You need to consider whether your business is in a position to capitalise on the digital economy – and whether your IT is up to the task. Persisting too long with legacy solutions could make it difficult to keep up, and remain at the cutting edge of your industry sector.

If you are interested in finding out how to make technology a business advantage, phone us on 01 8734120, 051 595200 to speak to our Microsoft Business Experts or email sales@hcs.ie.